Container flattening apparatus



July 10, 1962 v. H. HASSELQUIST 3,043,212

CONTAINER FLATTENING APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Shet 1 Filed June 22, 1959 LIJ ""1 mmvrox LE VIcTOR HHAssEL wsT ATTY.

July 10., 1962 v. H. HASSELQUIST 3,043,212

CONTAINER FLATTENING APPARATUS Filed June 22, 1959 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 JNVENTOR. Mama H. HASSELOUIST July 10., 1962 v. H. HASSELQUIST 3,043,212

CONTAINER FLATTENING APPARATUS Filed June 22, 1959 3 Sheets-Shet s 28 I NM IN V EN TOR. VIcToR HHAssELQwsT United States This invention relates to apparatus for crushing or'flattening containers such as tin cans for compact disposal or the like.

The apparatus of this invention is well adapted for.

hand operation and animportant feature of all embodiments of my invention is that the container is progres-:

.sively or partially flattened, step by step upon successive operations of an operating handle or lever which, inthe hand operated form are operations that are readily performed. The can is self feeding by gravity and theflattened or crushed portion falls down clear of the jaws as the crushing cycles are repeated. I

The jaws are relatively inclined to form a gravity hopper, and remain so inclined even when the jaws are closest together, that is, at their minimum spacing. The apparatus includes a frame and fixed jaw, a movable jaw pivoted to the frame below the lower end of the can crushing portion, the handle or lever referred to, machine element means connected between the frame, the handle and the movable jaw for causing the movable jaw to move toward and away from the fixed jaw upon oscillation or pumping of the handle.

It is an important feature of this invention thatthe maximum force that must be applied to the handle to crush'the container is relatively small because the conatent tainer is only partially crushed along its length with each stroke, and the flattened or crushed lower portion of the container progressively drops out from between the ever. relatively inclined jaws on each retract stroke of the handle.

When engaging a container, the minimum spacing of the lower, or work portions of the inclined jaws is equal to the final thickness of the flattened container, and since the jaws are always relatively inclined, the container is flattened at the lower zones of the inclined jaws and hence is given a series of-relatively easily imparted nips, each r'iip requiring but little force, and since every nip is applied between the lower ends of the diverging jaws,-the crushing force is always relatively highly localized and thus can be readily applied. The container is not and cannot be fully crushed or flattened on one, or usually,

ation nor to remove'the flattened container, except to even on two strokes of the handle, but each stroke quickly 2 effect a series of readily performed oscillations of the handle.

It .is an important feature of the invention that the angle between the jaws is such that the friction between the can and the jaws during the crushing stroke is sufiicient to keep the can from sliding upwardly, and no' teeth that puncture the can or otherwise restrain it from falling due to the force of gravity on the retract stroke arezpror vided on.either jaw, which teeth might pierce the can and keep it from feeding itselfthrough the jawsilnder Also, in the preferred embodiment of my invention'the frame and movable jaw memberbecome progressively wider from top to bottom in orderito accommodate the increased width of the can as itis flattened and yet serve.

3,043,212 Patented July 10, 1962 2 lever and 'the frame which serves to: provide maximum leverage to the beginning of the crushing stroke, at which time resistance 'to crushing isthe greatest, particularly when a fresh can is. introduced into the apparatus. 1 Having described briefly the general natureof the apparatus embodying my invention, a more detailed description of two embodiments thereof follows. In the drawings: r 'FIGS. 1-9 illustrate one embodimentof my invention wherein the machine element means for operating the crusher jaw includes a gear and sector arrangement, FIG. 1 being a perspective view thereof;

FIGS. 29 are vertical sections showing a cycle of operation and FIG. 2 shows an unflattened container between the jaws;

. T FIG. 3 .shows the movable jaw advanced after .the first stroke of,the handle, the container having received. its first nipi;

FIG. 4 shows the apparatus after the following retract stroke, the container havingslipped down fromthe positions of FIGS. 2 and 3 to present an uncrushed portion to the lower end portions of the jaws ready for the next nip; 7 v V V FIGS. 6-9 show successive cycles, a fully flattened container being shown in FIG. 9, ready for gravity release upon the retraction of the handle to follow;

FIGS. 10-16 illustrates a preferred embodiment ofymy invention wherein the machine element means for operating the crusher jawis inform of a-toggle link assembly, this form also having a vertically tapered configuration, FIG. 10 being a perspective view of this form;

FIG. 11 is a vertical side section with thejaws open, showing an uncrushed can in solid lines and a partially crushed can in broken lines in the position to which the can drops after the first stroke; j I, a

FIG. 12 shows the first stroke partially completed; FIG. ;l3 shows the first stroke completed; I v FIGS. 14 andlS are sections-taken as, indicatedon FI 1 I Y I 'I FIG. 16 is a front view of the device. a H 7 Referring now Q the embodiment of my invention shown in FIGS. 1-9 in more detail, the apparatus can be said to comprise five basic elements, namely a frame or fixed supporting means F, bearing a fixed jaw member A, a-movable jaw member B fixed on a movable supporting means pivotally mounted on the frame, an oper: ating lever or handle H,;and machine element means indicated generally at E for .causing motion of movable jaw B toward and away from fixed jaw A upon oscillae tion of the handle member H. L The frame and fixed'jaw are both vertically mounted on a fixed support S,(such as a wall, fo r example) and a container or tin can C to be crushed or flattened; is also shown somewhat diagrammatically in eachof FIGURES 1 9 v r V V The frame F, includes a pair of side bars, llhdepending from the fixed jaw A, and there. is a lateral pivot pin '11, that mounts the movable jaw B on the frame by to keep the uncrushed can in good'vertical alignmentjat I the beginning of the flattening operation.

In a preferred form of the invention, there is a toggle type link mechanism connected between the operating means of a complementary pair of side bars or movable supporting means -12 depending from the movable jaw. Near the upper part of the movable jaw is an actuating pin 13 for connection of the movable jaw to handlemember H. The handle member includes a pair of side bars 14 connected attheir lowerend by a tubular gripmember 16. 'Ilheupperend of each handle bar 14' is formed with sectorteeth 17 that mate with teeth on curved sector plates 18 that extend forwardly (toward theoperator) from the frameF, at the 'upperportionof the apparatus. Thus the mating-toothed elements 17 and 18 and the pin 13 that connects the handle to the movable jaw form machine element means for moyingthe movable jaw toward and away from the fixed jaw upon oscillation'or pump ing of the handle.

1 The angle of inclination of-the fixed and movable .jaws'A and B is in theor'derofZZ degrees with the jaws open as in'*FIG. 2 and decreases sIightIyJto about 17 degrees when the jaws. are closed as in FIG. 3. The faces of the jaws therefore always converge downwardly ble jaw engages the fixed jaw in closed position in the absence of.a container. The dimensions of the jaws. and their maximum. spacing depend upon the range of can siz'es' toibe accommodated in the machine, for example the can shownin the drawings-is about the smallest size 7 vthat will .fall through. the jawswhen they are open,- as

seen in FIG. 2.

I j- I In operation, an unflattenedcan C is dropped between the jaws and when the handle H is moved rearwardly to.

' open the jaws'the can drops to its lowermost position of ."jaw by pivot pin 33. The'three pivot pointslie subwhen in engagement with a containen'or if the movastantially in a straight line when the handle is'retracted to the horizontalp'osition shown inF IG. 1'1, and to permit this arrangement of parts each link 29 is notched as at 34 to clear the intermediate handle to movable jaw pivot pin 33. e p i When the handle is retracted this line'of the pivot pins is almost perpendicular to the line between the fixed pivots 26 mounting the movable jaw on the frame and "the point '33 for the handle and the movable jaw.- 'With fthis arrangement the mechanical advantage of the handle is virtually at its maximum, which is especially desirable Kat the initiation of a stroke where the bottom of the can -must be crushed, as indicated in FIG. 12.

(Of course the same applies, but at a different time in the crushing cyclegif the can is lidless and has been'inserted' upside down.)

FIG. '2. The first forwardstroke of the handle nips the 1 lower portion of the can and buckles'the bottom (it the can is so inserted) into a V. shaped member as seen in T'FIG; 3. This is'easily accomplishedbecause-the jaws makelocalized, or substantially line contact with the can at thecrushing positions, and as seen in FIG. 3,: only a portion of the can is flattened on the first stroke of the v handle. 7

I prefer-that the dimensions of the apparatus besuch -that the-average container will not be one that initially falls near the bottom of the jaws as 'in FIG. 2, bu't rather falls about'midway or highenas in FIG.- 11, so' that, as

.Tlie handlelis then retracted as seen in FIG. 4 and I the partially flattened can falls down through the jaws untila full diameter'p'ortion ofthe can catches in the lower'jaw portions, ready for the nextfiattening stroke, the completion of' which is shown in FIG-J5. The'next retraction stroke with'the can having again'fed itself ready for another nip of the jaws is shown in FIG. 6, FIG. 7

shows thenext crushing stroke,'- FIG. 8 the corresponding retraction stroke,*and FIG. 9. the 'final crushingstroke.

I 'Uponlthe final retraction stroke- (not-illustrated) the 'flattenedcan dropsclear of the apparatus.

For-'purposes of illustration, four crushing strokes "are shown diagrammatically} but thenumber'of strokes may be greater or lessthanfour, depending nponthesize'of the [can'and the design of the working parts." The jaws in' FIGS. 11 -13 the first'stroke' only partially folds the bottom of the can, this being: the portion of the operation that requires the most force.

With the linkage arrangement shown-,- as the-advance stroke of the handle continues the rate of advance of the movable'jaw toward the fixed jawlikewise increases, but this is beneficial and'etficientbecause, as mentioned, the

most difiieult part of theoperation will be at the begin- 'nin g"of the stroke, and that part'gets easier to perform as the stroke continues. I Y 1 Y The length of link'29 is not critical, but it should be noted that as such length is reduced from infinity, the amount of rotation imparted 't'oth e movable jaw by a given rotation of the handle increases, and thus by making the link 29 relatively short, not onlyis theapparatus {rendered compact, but the mechanical advantage at the beginning of the strokeis retained and adequatemotion of the movable jawis produced. It will be obvious that are relatively smooth in the sense that they ha l' no teeth or projections that will} hold up" the can and prevent it from feeding itself through the jaws under gravity, and

because of the angle of relative inclination of the jaws referred to, the frictional force between the jaws'and the'can preventthe latter from popping up during the brushing strokel' The jaws, although relatively smooth the functional sense referred to, may be'rou'ghehed'sonie: what if desired by sandblasting, friction coatings orthe like to augment the'frictional grip on the can during.

crushing, so long as the jaws do not indentjor' penetrate the can enough locally to hold it upon the retract stroke.

FIGS. 10-16 show a preferred embodiment of the invention wherein the machine element means for causing the movable jaw'to move toward and away from the fixed jaw in response to'oscillation of the handle is in the form of a toggleflink mechanism. In this form, theframe F carries the fixed jaw A" but here the frame is formed by a pair of side plates 20, flanged :at Zl to which flanges is welded a :back plate 2 2, the upper portion of whichjforms the fixed jaw 'A'.- The forward edges of receive side plates 24 of the movable aw member B", by meansof pivot pins 26.- As best. seen-,in 'FIGS. 14- 1-6, the side plates 24 are flanged at 2'7, ;to mount a sepahalf thelength of'the links- Obviously, as can-be seen I each side plate20 has a'reverse bend 23*tofpivotally L r rate plate 28 welded to the flanges to -form'the crushing portion of the movable. jaw B. The angle of relative inclination of'the fixed and movable jaws is likethat described in the first form of the invention. 7 p In order to operate the movable jaw by means of the handle H apair of toggle links 29 is provided, eaeh link being pivoted between the handle and the frame (fixed jaw) 'by means of handle pivot pin 31 and frame pins 32, whereas the handle is pivoted to the movable JfIom the drawingsjthej device as illustnated isoperating Q 1 1 t n diam ter a t bo h large an smaller cans will beaccommodated. 1

7 ill be noted in the'form of Pros. fie-16, that'th fixed and movable jawswidemout ,fromltop to bottom.

"This accommodates the increasein can width as the latter is flattened while providing'optimum vertieal guiding of the nfl ttened an, V 1 7 Although, the forms of the invention; illustrated and described are intended formanual operation of the'handle, the handle could bepower operated by any .well known mechanism such as a, crank and connectingv rod connected to the handlethat convertsrotary to reciprocating Qmotion. I ,7

Having ,completed a detailed. description ,of two embodimen'ts of my invention so that those skilledin the art m Pr i hesam alpl 'imfi v a 11 A. elt ee ij g, pr' g, ess ve t iner crusher comprising a frame, a fixed crushing jaw on said frame, a movable crushingjaw, said jaws being generally vertically disposed andrhaving relatively srnooth container engaging faces, means for mounting said movable jawon said frame for motion toward and away from saidfixed crushing'jaw, an operating arm, machine element means connected between said frame, said operating arm and said movable crushing jaw for moving said movable crushing jaw toward and away from said fixed crushing jaw upon oscillation of said operating arm, said machine element means causing the crushing faces of said jaws to remain relatively inclined to form a gravity hopper at both the initial and final positions of said operating arm, at which positions said jaws are at their maximum and minimum relative spacings, respectively, successive advance and retract strokes of said arm moving said movable jaw back and forth between the same positions relative to said fixed jaw during the entire crushing operation, the advance strokes causing the lower, uncrushed portions of a container disposed between the jaws to be progressively flattened, with the container partially falling down and eventually out from between said jaws upon successive retract strokes, the minimum spacing of the lower portions of said inclined jaws being substantially equal to the thickness of the crushed container with the relative spacing of the remainder of the jaws exceeding said minimum spacing to accommodate the container until it is fully crushed, said machine element means comprising pivot means for pivotally mounting said arm to said movable jaw, and link means pivoted to said arm at one end and to said frame at the other end, said first named pivot means lying in between the pivots of said link means, and substantially in line therewith, when said operating arm and movable jaw are retracted, to give substantially maximum mechanical advantage to said arm when retracted.

2. A self feeding, progressive container flattener comprising a frame, a fixed flattening jaw on said frame, a movable flattening jaw, said jaws substantially flat and generally vertically disposed and having relatively smooth container engaging faces, means for mounting said movable jaw on said frame for motion toward and away from said fled jaw, machine element means connected between said frame and'said movable jaw for moving said movable jaw toward and away from said fixed jaw, said machine element means causing the faces of said jaws to remain relatively inclined to form a gravity hopper at the positions wherein said jaws are at their maximum and minimum relative spacings, respectively, successive advance and retract strokes of said movable jaw moving the movable jaw back and forth between the same positions relative to said fixed jaw during the entire flattening operation, the advance strokes causing the lower portions of a container disposed between the jaws to be progressively flattened, with the container partially falling down and eventually out from between said jaws upon successive retract strokes of the movable jaw, the minimum spacing of the lower portions of said inclined jaws being substantially equal to the thickness of a flattened container with the relative spacing of the remainder of the jaws exceeding said minimum spacing to accommodate the container until it is fully flattened, said fixed jaw having a pair of forwardly projecting container guiding side plates within which said movable jaw reciprocates, said fixed and movable jaws becoming progressively wider from their upper portions toward their lower portions to provide optimum lateral guiding for the unflattened and partially flattened container portions while accommodating the increase in container width as the latter passes through said jaws.

3. A self-feeding, progressive container fiattener apparatus comprising fixed supporting means provided with a fixed container engaging jaw and a movable supporting means provided with a movable container engaging jaw, said movable supporting means being movable relative to said fixed s. toward said fixed j piying means to move and movable jaw to said clos including stop means positively said movable jaw to said closed position, engaging jaws having substantially flat, gener l 1y extending, relatively smooth container engaging said supporting means supporting said jaws with sai faces converging downwardly at a substantial angle in said closed position, said force applying means including an operating arm and machine element means connected between said operating arm and said supporting means to move said movable supporting means and movable jaw toward and from said fixed jaw so that the faces of said jaws form a gravity hopper with relatively movable converging sides in which a container descends on sep aration of said jaws, and in which a portion of a container is flattened between the lower portions of said jaws on movement of said movable jaw by said operating arm toward closed position.

4. A self-feeding, progressive container flattener apparatus comprising fixed supporting means provided with a fixed container engaging jaw and a movable supporting means provided with a movable container engaging jaw, said movable supporting means being movably mounted for pivoted movement relative to said fixed supporting means about an axis below said jaws to move said movable jaw toward said fixed jaw to closed position, and force applying means to move said movable supporting means and movable jaw to said closed position, said apparatus including stop means positively limiting movement of said movable jaw to said closed position, said container engaging jaws having substantially fiat, generally vertically extending, relatively smooth container engaging faces, said supporting means supporting said jaws with the upper edges of said faces forming a larger angle at said axis as a center than the lower edges and with one of said jaws converging downwardly toward the other jaw at an angle to a radial plane through said axis and the upper edge of said one jaw so that said faces converge downwardly at a substantial angle in said closed position, said force applying means including an operating arm and machine element means connected between said operating arm and said supporting means to move said movable supporting means and movable jaw toward and from said fixed jaw so that the faces of said jaws form a gravity hopper with relatively movable converging sides in which a container descends on separation of said jaws, and in which a portion of a container is flattened between the lower portions of said jaws on movement of said movable jaw by said operating arm toward closed position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 44,742 Parham Oct. 18, 1864 542,442 Hamilton July 9, 1895 1,402,433 Monroe Jan. 3, 1922 2,161,931 Pattison June 13, 1939 2,246,394 Steele June 17, 1941 2,373,057 Shinn Apr. 3, 1945 2,619,150 Smith Nov. 25, 1952 2,949,078 Reed Aug. 16, 1960 

